Liliya Shakirova Accepts Sanction for
Violation of UFC Anti-Doping Policy https://t.co/df2xPjTUUj— USADA (@usantidoping)
August 30, 2021
One-time UFC competitor Liliya
Shakirova has accepted a two-year suspension for a violation of
the promotion’s anti-doping policy, USADA announced Monday.
Shakirova tested positive for meldonium in an out-of-competition
sample collected on Dec. 5 in her home country of Uzbekistan.
Meldonium is used to treat heart conditions, among other issues,
but in terms of performance enhancing benefits, it is believed to
enhance the body’s capacity to carry oxygen. It is listed in the
category of hormone and metabolic modulators on the UFC banned
substance list.
Shakirova would have avoid a violation had she declared her use of
Meldonium prior to entering the USADA drug-testing pool, but she
did not make such an admission. As a result, her two-year sanction
is retroactive to Dec. 5, 2020.
The 29-year-old made her Octagon debut at UFC 254, where she
suffered a second-round submission loss to current flyweight No. 1
contender Lauren
Murphy this past October. Shakirova owns an 8-2 professional
mark that includes appearances with Gorilla Fighting Championships
and Fight Nights Global.
The USADA statement regarding Shakirova is as follows:
USADA announced today that Liliya Shakirova, of Tashkent,
Uzbekistan, has accepted a two-year sanction for a violation of the
UFC® Anti-Doping Policy.
Shakirova, 29, tested positive for meldonium as the result of a
sample collected out of competition on December 5, 2020 in her home
country of Uzbekistan. Meldonium is a non-Specified Substance in
the category of Hormone and Metabolic Modulators and it is
prohibited at all times under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy and the
UFC Prohibited List.
Upon being added to the UFC Anti-Doping Program, athletes are
required to declare prohibited substances they have used in the
previous 12 months. An athlete who makes such declaration will not
be deemed to have committed a violation but, depending on the
substance, may be required to refrain from competition for a period
of at least six months and provide at least two negative samples.
Shakirova did not declare the use of meldonium on her onboarding
declaration forms.
Shakirova’s two-year period of ineligibility began on December 5,
2020, the date her positive sample was collected.